Lord: it is time. The huge summer has gone by.
Now overlap the sundials with your shadows,
and on the meadows let the wind go free.
Command the fruits to swell on tree and vine;
grant them a few more warm transparent days,
urge them on to fulfillment then, and press
the final sweetness into the heavy wine.
Whoever has no house […]

Posted in Photos, Poetry, Seasons | 5 Comments »

Tess’ Sunday Collection is all about autumn, so head on over to read a number of wonderful links!
Bette has blessed me this day with the kindest and most gracious words.  Bette has been reading my blog since almost the beginning and has become a wonderful online friend who has inspired me in many ways, not […]

Posted in Photos, Poetry, Seasons | 5 Comments »

The equinox is in a week, one of the two dates when the sun hovers above the equator and day and night are equal. In the solar calendar it is also the beginning of autumn.  Here in Seattle we are starting to get hints of autumn’s arrival — cooler days that are getting noticeably shorter […]

Posted in Seasons, Monastic Spirituality | 14 Comments »

“O shy moon
don’t give in to the pushy clouds
you are above them”
-one of the Haiku read aloud at the end of the evening written by a fellow moon-gazer
(I apologize for not catching the name)
We attended the Moon Viewing event at the Japanese Garden last night and I was entranced the whole evening despite the fact […]

Posted in Photos, Poetry, Seasons, Nature and Creativity | 8 Comments »

Yesterday my sweet husband started back to work.  It was faculty meeting day and today he gets to meet all of his students.  I am always a bit sad at the end of summer–we get to spend so much time together and he truly is my best friend so we have a lot of fun, a […]

Posted in Seasons, transitions | 4 Comments »

Tomorrow is the feast of Beltane, the first day of summer according to the Celtic calendar.  Like its sister feast of Samhain on November 1st, it is a time when the boundary between this world and the Other world is believed to be especially thin.  It is also a time of lighting bonfires for rituals of purification and […]

Posted in Seasons | 12 Comments »

(photo above by Cheryl MacPherson of a fawn lily)
What fun to read all of your wonderful stories, poems, and reflections about blossoming!  I am grateful to everyone who participated.  Please follow the links below to read some of the participants and also click on the comments section to read two stories submitted that I had permission to […]

Posted in Photos, Seasons, Links to Websites | 5 Comments »

(Please scroll down for more about my new Blossoming Prayer Cards and click here for more information about our Awakening the Creative Spirit intensive in November!) 
Greetings dear friends!  The arrival of spring has inspired me to call forth stories of blossoming into the world!  I invite you to post a story (or poem or image) […]

Posted in Seasons | 9 Comments »

Celebrate this unlikely oracle,
this ball of fat and fur,
whom we so mysteriously endow
with the power to predict spring.
Let’s hear it for the improbable heroes who,
frightened at their own shadows,
nonetheless unwittingly work miracles.
Why shouldn’t we believe
this peculiar rodent holds power
over sun and seasons in his stubby paw?
Who says that God is all grandeur and glory?
Unnoticed in […]

Posted in Photos, Poetry, Seasons | 3 Comments »

Listen.
Can you hear it?
Can you hear the gentle quickening beneath the earth?
Tomorrow on February 2nd is the feast of Imbolc, Candlemas, the feast of St. Bridget, and Groundhog Day.  It is a cross-quarter day meaning it is the midway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox.  The sun marks the four Quarter Days of […]

Posted in Photos, Seasons | 8 Comments »